Snow Day Paydays: Stores That Thrive

The snow storm yesterday brought most activity on the East Coast to a halt, cancelling schools and forcing many companies to close early. But some businesses actually profit from blizzards.

Obviously anyone with a truck and a shovel can make some extra cash helping people get out of their driveways, but there are a few less obvious winners too. ABC News reports that airport stores tend to perform very well in snow storms because flights get delayed and travelers shop more, both for necessities and probably just to kill time.

Hardware stores also do well since people come in to buy rock salt and shovels, and as soon as the storm ends, plumbers tend to receive a lot of calls about floods and cesspools in need of fixing.

It also turns out that liquor stores make a killing. Apparently the first thing people do when they hear it’s about to snow is stock up on booze.

From ABC: “Also happy about the snow was Mitch Aaronson, co-owner of Cairo Wine & Liquor in Washington. Aaronson said sales tripled last Saturday just before the first storm dumped two feet of snow on the capital. ‘People are even asking us for things we don't sell, like milk,’ Aaronson said.”

That’s right, once they secured their liquor supply, some customers thought to ask for milk. Brilliant.